When the Smoke Eaters drop the puck Friday night at the Trail Memorial Centre it will kick off their busiest ten days of the season seeing them play six games over that time frame. They’ll host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks for both games this weekend looking for their first win of the season. They’ll then host Powell River on Wednesday September 18th before embarking on a three game weekend that sees them go to Wenatchee on Friday the 20th, head to West Kelowna on the 21st before coming back home to host the Victoria Grizzlies for a rare Sunday game on the 22nd.

Regular season series vs Salmon Arm Silverbacks

September 13th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7pm)

September 14th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7pm)

November 1st @ Shaw Centre (7pm)

November 2nd @ Shaw Centre (6pm)

December 15th @ Shaw Centre (3pm)

February 21st @ Trail Memorial Centre (7pm)

Salmon Arm (1-0-0-0) Last game: 4-1 win vs West Kelowna

Trail (0-2-0-0) Last game: 7-1 loss vs Penticton

The Smoke Eaters continue their five game home stand with another weekend doubleheader at Cominco with their Shuswap rivals the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in town. Trail is looking to bounce back after a disappointing start to the season seeing them drop both games to the Vees on opening weekend. The Smokies were out score 11-2 over the two games. The penalty kill had its moments in the first game but was picked apart the following night while the power play struggle to get anything going vs. the Vees. They’ll look to get things going against a very new looking Silverbacks team who total six returning players from last years squad that lost in five games in the first round vs. the Vipers.

The Smoke Eaters and the Silverbacks split the six game season series last year with the Smoke Eaters taking the last game by a decisive 10-3 scoreline on the last weekend of the season. The Smokies score 5 or more goals in their three wins while score 2 goals in each off their defeats to the Backs. Over the season the Smoke Eaters outscore the interior division foes 27-20

The Silverbacks had to sit and watch while the rest of the league got underway waiting until Sunday to kick off their campaign. They knocked off the West Kelowna Warriors 4-1 in their opener with a penalty kill that went 8 for 8 and a power play that was 1/5. Salmon Arm are once again backstopped by Ethan Langenegger who returns for his second season with the Backs. The other five returning players include Nick Unruh, Logan Shaw, Noah Wakeford, Trevor Adams and Akito Hirose.

The Smoke Eaters will hope that a hard week of practice has gotten them on the same page as they look to get their first win of the year, while Salmon Arm will look to grow on their opening weekend win vs the Warriors.

Puck drop is at 7pm at Cominco Arena. Tickets are $14 for adults, $5 for youth and kids 12 and under get in free. You can also catch the game on HockeyTV or Mixlr with Ben Phillips and Rob Squires starting at 6:50pm.